3. My daughter has taken to reading my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook as if it were a novel. This has resulted, in the last few day, in made-from-scratch devil's food cake (with fudge frosting) and homemade blueberry muffins, appearing in my kitchen, as if by magic.

So yes, dear child, I will keep buying you cocoa and butter and sugar. You bake away, you brilliant girl, you.

4. (Seriously, it's fun to watch my eldest adopt a hobby so whole-heartedly. I delight in her delight.)

5. So, here's a question for you: what's your favorite part of U.S. History? I admit to being an Anglophile, and overdosing on British history, but it's time for me to learn a bit more about my own country's past. Where should I start? What stories and settings from the United States really capture your imagination? I'd love to know.

6. Today I had the rare experience of my cat actually coming to me, and wanting to be scratched and petted and snuggled.

He's the sort of cranky beast that thanks you for your pains by biting you when he's had enough loving - purring all the while of course. He's a bit of a psychopath, but we keep him around because he's so terribly pretty. And he kills bugs. (I admire that in a cat.)

Anyone else have a cranky pet?

(I have to say: my dog makes up for our cat's crankiness. Our dog only wants us to LOVE HER, PLEASE LOVE HER, SHE ONLY WANTS US TO LOVE HER AND WALK HER AND FEED HER AND SCRITCH HER OH, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!!!

5 comments:

I taught US History for a few years and I could no sooner pick a favorite part than count the stars. It's all so great. Maybe start with an event (like Henry Know moving the cannons from Fort Ticonderoga in the dead of winter), or a person (like Carrie Nation - the ax wielding member of the temperance movement), instead of trying to study an entire era. If you want an easy entry, try some good historical fiction. Ohhhh. . .or check out the nonfiction book Empty Mansions - really good. Enjoy all that our country's history has to offer!

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